US-Philippine relations under Duterte

HONOLULU – I am hopeful that as soon as President-elect Rodrigo Duterte sits on the presidential chair in Malacañang, he will have a wider perspective on the dynamics of our international relations with many countries particularly with the United States.

I joined the US-PH Strategic Initiative Philippine Trade Foundation Eminent Persons Group for a series of meetings in Hawaii with several think-tank groups and strategic and policy centers arranged by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in collaboration with local think-tank Stratbase ADR Institute (ADRi).

Our group – led by chairman of Philippines Inc. Tonyboy Cojuangco and arranged by Stratbase ADRi president Dindo Manhit and Philippine Trade Foundation executive director RP Manhit – launched the US Philippine Strategic Initiative in Washington D.C. last year to help boost foreign investments by forging strong partnerships that would redound to economic benefits for the country.

Our roundtable discussion with members of the Pacific Forum CSIS led by executive director Brad Glosserman with former Hawaii Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa provided thoughtful insights on the security and strategic developments that are happening in the Asia Pacific Region. This was followed by a briefing from the East West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program director Jerry Finin at the University of Hawaii. EWC, an independent nonprofit organization established by the US Congress in 1960, serves as a repository of information and analysis on critical issues in the region.

Our briefing and tour at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) was conducted by its director, retired Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf who served as Deputy Commander of the US Pacific Command. The DKI APCSS happens to be an academic institute of the US Department of Defense – one of the five regional study centers of the Defense Department in fact – whose focus is in addressing regional and global security issues.

The center invites military and civilian representatives of the US and Asia-Pacific nations to its comprehensive program of executive education and workshops, and supports PACOM by developing and sustaining relationships among security practitioners and national security establishments throughout the region. The Inouye Center has a number of Filipino alumni, among them former AFP Chief Lt. General Emmanuel Bautista, who received the Alumnus of the Year award in 2013 for his significant contribution in reforming the Philippines’ security sector. Another alumnus of the center is foreign policy expert De La Salle University Professor Rene de Castro who also joined us.

The most important of all the meetings we had in Hawaii was the one with Brigadier General Suzanne Vares-Lum of the US Pacific Command.  The general serves as a mobilization assistant to the US PACOM Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J5MA) and has a key role in shaping and maintaining regional security through development of diplomatic, economic, and military policies as well as maintaining military-to-military and political-military relationships among the 43 nations within the Pacific region.

Joining BGen Vares-Lum was PACOM Deputy Director for Intelligence Andy Singer; Foreign Policy Advisor Chris Marut; J9 Pacific Outreach Deputy Director John Wood and USPACOM Economist Dr. Janet Kilian. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Captain Rey dela Cruz of the Philippine Navy is embedded within the Pacific Command and helps in the coordination of Balikatan and other joint military exercises with US troops. Captain Dela Cruz proudly proclaimed that during the overseas absentee voting, he voted for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

CSIS Director of the Southeast Asia Program Murray Hibbert came out with a paper last year about the relations between the Philippines and the US which  scrutinized the realities faced by the Philippines regarding the disputed maritime territories in the West Philippine Sea.

Murray Hibbert concluded that the key to a new era of US-Philippine security cooperation is the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) – but clarified that EDCA is more than just a tool for the Philippines’ external defense weakness as it is also a framework for a new era of cooperation across the spectrum of the security operations in the Asia Pacific region.

The author believes that the US and the Philippines should establish a strategic dialogue to chart the future of the alliance; cooperate on the development of a long term South China Sea plan; and boost Australia-Philippines and Japan-Philippines security cooperation.

Obviously, our discussions with the aforementioned institutions were organized precisely to give us a clearer perspective on security issues in the Asia Pacific region – and what came out was a very positive note that dealing with China does not have to be a matter of confrontation but one of firm negotiation. The general sentiment is that China will eventually come to its senses especially with more countries joining us – and the rest of the world. The Philippines is waiting for the result of the UN arbitral court regarding our suit, and a favorable outcome is very much anticipated.

One thing for sure – president-elect Rodrigo Duterte should be made aware of all the facts and it is incumbent upon the people around him, in particular incoming Foreign Secretary Jun Yasay and the next National Security Adviser, to get together with the outgoing Aquino Cabinet cluster on security to get a complete briefing on the current state of affairs regarding the South China Sea. From what we hear from the grapevine, an invitation is forthcoming for the president-elect not only to visit Hawaii for a security briefing but most likely, he may become the state guest of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump – auguring a new era in the relations between the United States and the Philippines.

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